We were lucky to catch up with Audra Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Audra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I think that we begin preparing ourselves to be photographers before we ever pick up a camera. It comes from observing the world, from connecting with others, from being inspired by stories, light, and beauty in the everyday.

My journey into photography all started with a love of writing and reading. My passion for the written medium inspired my love of stories and my desire to communicate things that moved people in some way. Then, in high school, I would steal my mom’s digital camera to photograph anything that inspired me. At that time in my life, I wasn’t thinking about photography as a career, but those first seeds were planted early, before I ever realized that one day my calling would be behind the camera.

About ten years later, I was working as the weddings editor for an online wedding planning publication, where I was responsible for selecting wedding features for our blog. It was during that time that I really began to realize that I had an eye for photography, but I didn’t quite understand how to communicate to my team what made one photograph better than another and how to choose images for our features. I went to my boss at the time and pitched the idea that I take an online photography course to become better at my job, and they said yes.

While taking this online course, I had a lightbulb moment: “I think I want to do this for a living. I want to photograph weddings like the ones I feature and see every day in my editorial job.”

That course was a jumping off point, but I spent the next few years watching Youtube videos, taking online courses, and offering free shoots for anyone willing to get in front of my camera. At the time, I was frustrated that I couldn’t yet create with my camera what I had in my mind; that I lacked the skills to bring my vision to fruition. But if there’s anything you learn from a creative craft like photography, it’s that the learning process is crucial. It’s messing up that teaches you something new.

I’d like to say there’s a magic recipe for learning faster, but becoming the artist you were meant to be takes time. And, in my opinion, photography is a craft where there’s ALWAYS something new to learn, so you can never learn it all. It’s always changing and trends come and go — it’s part of the fun.

And while the technicalities of using your camera and working with light are essential, the most important skill you learn along the way is connecting with people and being genuine to yourself as a creator. Only you can create in the way that you do, even if someone else has a similar editing and shooting style. The way you hold the camera, the way that you spoke to your client and made them feel, the things that you noticed… it’s all unique to you.

Audra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an multi-published, award-winning East Coast based boudoir and wedding photographer who has the honor of documenting the poetry of life around the world.

When I’m documenting weddings, my goal is toe the line between being a helpful guide and stepping back to let moments unfold organically. Storytelling has always been integral to me as a creator and that comes through in every wedding I photograph — I want to capture portraits that my couples feel beautiful in but I also want to document those moments that could only happen at their wedding day; the memories that are 100% unique to them as individuals. I want each individual that I photograph to look back on their photographs and truly, deeply feel.

With boudoir, my passion has always been to show the person in front of my camera that they are art. That no matter what society, beauty standards, or our own minds tell us, that we all have something incredible and beautiful inside of us. I believe that our bodies carry our spirits and every part of them helps tell our stories as humans and that they are worth honoring and documenting at every stage of our journey through life.

These desires for my work come from my first love of storytelling; from falling in love with words when I was small and realizing that words had tremendous power. Photographs also have power and also tell stories and the way in which they are connected is endlessly fascinating to me. I treat my photos like little poems — I hope that each one brings joy or makes you stop for just a little while and marvel at the fiercely imperfect magic of love and life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Like many others in the world, I don’t often see my value as a human, especially as someone who lives with an invisible chronic disease and struggles with mental health. Working with others — to make them feel beautiful and loved and honored, even if just briefly — is part of my healing journey and is the driving mission behind my work. I want my clients to see themselves as art because that’s something I’ve never been able to see for myself. I want them to feel seen.

Being able to do this type of work is so rewarding and an honor, and I don’t take it lightly. For the person in my frame to trust me with vulnerability is incredible and gives me such a tremendous sense of purpose.

We often forget that moments are fleeting, my job allows me to stop time and preserve the big and little things that give life meaning, whether that’s a wedding day full of chaos and beauty and love or a boudoir session that’s filled with tears and moment of peace and reprieve from the barrage of self-hatred that many fight every day.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As an introvert and a type-A, “I can do it myself” person, the biggest resource that I was blind to early in my creative journey was community. It’s intimidating to put yourself in spaces with professionals who may have been in the industry for years, even decades, but it’s what ultimately took my business to the next level.

I was about a year into my photography business when I began reaching out to other photographers in the area to ask if I could second shoot for them (often for free) because I knew that there was a huge opportunity for me to learn and surround myself with people who have been dedicated to the craft for far longer. With that step, my skill and my business really started to grow and I found a supportive network of individuals that I can turn to with questions, when I need to work through a difficult situation, etc. And I can support them in return.

It’s easy to say “find your people” but I recognize it takes time. The first step is to just put yourself out there and realize that the fear is holding you back from the best resource available to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.audrajonesphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audrajonesphotography

Image Credits
Audra Jones Photography